Welcome to Real Debate Wisconsin (RDW). This is primarily a conservative blog but we always welcome input from all points of view. Things get heated upon occasion but we ask that our readers do their best to keep things civil and respect all participants. We always welcome guest posts, so if there is something you would like to share feel free to email me at fkd1015 at yahoo dot com.

July 2, 2005

And I was beginning to think this was going to be a boring summer from a political standpoint.

Two things I am sure of.

1. W will nominte a staunch conservative in the mold of Thomas and Scolia.2. Teddy Kennedy's head will likely explode.

The big question is how will the gang of 14 respond? Will W's choice be be deemed extraordinary? My guess is yes, no matter who it is. Right now the court is more or less divided with a liberal slant. Replacing O'Connor, a true moderate, will have a dramatic on the court.

W said something yesterday I found interesting. "whoever I nomintae will faithfully interpret the Constitution." He is slicker than most give him credit for. So was he saying he would nominate a person of faith, or a strict constitutionalist? My guess is both. That word faithfully is so key. We will see in short order.

I do not presume to know enough to hazard a guess on whom the nominee will be. I do not think AG Gonzalez will get the nod though. I think Bush likes him right where he is for now. Perhaps later in his term this could be reality.

The other burning question is why Rhenquist is hanging on? To this I can only guess his job and the power from it are the only thing left he has to cling to.

This should be lively folks, soundoff!

UPDATE: I Understand the minority leader has already been presented with 3 names and flatly rejected the all..... This is going to get ugly. NO NEW JUSTICE BY CHRISTMAS>>>>>

July 1, 2005

TAIPEI (Reuters) - It may take a strong stomach to eat curry or chocolate ice cream out of a toilet bowl, but a commode-themed restaurant in Taiwan does booming business serving up just that.

The Martun, or toilet in Chinese, restaurant in the southern port city of Kaohsiung boasts lengthy queues on weekends as diners wait for a toilet seat in its brightly colored tile interior.Food arrives in bowls shaped like Western-style toilets or Asian-style "squat pots."Manager Hung Lin-wen said the original inspiration came from a toilet-shaped spaceship in a Japanese cartoon. The theme has attracted droves of novelty-seeking young people who come to play with their food and gross out their friends.

"We think the theme is special, and the food is tasty," Hung said.

But no matter how delicious, a few customers still find the combination a little hard to swallow."The taste is good, but I still feel disgusted when I look at it," said diner Lin Yu-may.

June 28, 2005

I got slammed by normalguy today on what is this sight really about. Apparently he thinks everything should come down the center.

I thought it may be prudent to readdress what I ap trying to accomplish here. Again, I am a committed rightie, I post topics that interest me. Those that catch me most are rank hypocrisy. I formed my beliefs way back in the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings. I was becoming aware of things and did some research on him. I was impressed. This man put him self through school and had worked to the pinnacle of his profession. Then the NAACP started blasting him. I was aghast. I really thought this was exactly the kind of person the NAACP should be putting forward as a role model. Someone who worked hard and achieved success by the content of their character. At that point I came to the understanding that some on the left cared nothing for their stated mission but only in the furtherment of their powerbase. I came to this understanding on my own, with no help from Rush Limbaugh (Normalguy seems to think that is where all my ideas come from)

I will post what is of interest to me. What I tire of is hate, name calling and boorish behavior from those ON BOTH SIDES with differing viewpoints.

I would like to add a leftie partner at some point who is in agreement with me to provide the other side. I will be careful of who gets added in that role. If anyone has topic ideas they would like to post please email me at fkd1015@yahoo.com

June 26, 2005

Does state's method inflate graduation rate?Wisconsin says 92% finish high school; report estimates 78% doBy SARAH CARRPosted: June 23, 2005A new report lambastes states across the country for using flawed, and even "irrational," methods of calculating graduation rates that ultimately dupe the public.High School Grad RatesThe report does not criticize Wisconsin as harshly as a few other states, such as North Carolina, but it does offer an alternative method of estimating graduation rates that would put Wisconsin's rate at 78% for the 2000-'01 school year, 14 percentage points lower than the 92% rate reported for the 2002-'03 school year."Every year (states) report these literally preposterous numbers," said Kati Haycock, director of the Education Trust, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that advocates for disadvantaged students and released the report.The report suggests that Wisconsin and many other states measure graduation rates in a manner that gives an overly rosy, distorted picture of the number of students who are actually finishing high school in the United States."The states that are reporting inaccurate graduation-rate data are doing themselves a huge disservice," wrote Daria Hall, the author of the report. "They're depriving educators, policy-makers and advocates of crucial information necessary to create a sense of urgency for high school improvement. And they're leaving educators vulnerable to accusations of dishonesty."

In a school just outside Minneapolis, a first grade teacher explained to her class that she was a Vikings Fan. She asked her students to raise their hands if they were Vikings fans too. Not really knowing what aVikings fan was, but wanting to be liked by their teacher, their hands all flew into the air.However, there was one exception.

A little boy namedTimmy was not going along with the crowd. The teacher asked him why he had decided to be different."Because I am not a Vikings fan." said Timmy."Then," asked the teacher, "what are you?" Timmy replied proudly, "I am a Green Bay Packers fan!"The teacher, a strong Vikings fan, was a little perturbed now as her face turned slightly red. She asked Timmy why he was a Packers fan."Well, my Mom and Dad are Packer fans so I'm aPackers fan, too," Timmy responded. The teacher got very angry. "That's no reason," she said loudly. "What if your Mom was a moron, and your dad was an idiot?